How to Discover Your Talents and Passions and Transform Your Life

If you're into anecdotes and numerous stories as entertainment, great. Unfortunately, very little of his examples illuminated how one goes about discovering talents and passion in work. I find that his sequel fell short of that goal as well.

After TED talk and NPR I was enthralled." Finding Your Element" is sadly an attempt to capitalize on gush of popularity.
This is an anecdotal, celebrity ridden book. It was very hard to get through. Much of book feels like it was written by someone else. Believe in yourself and work hard should be possible to make captivating for Ken Robinson.

All 3 of Robinson's books are remarkable resources. He has a great TED talk available on YouTube that can give you some introduction to his theories. Central to his work is his concept of "element". Robinson would way a person is in his/her element when s/he finds that thing that s/he love to do and does that thing well. Schools often don't give children much of a chance to discover their individual elements. Higher education is often worse. Career patterns and cultures can make it hard as well.

Robinson's work not only introduces his concepts very understandably and simply, it also reports from the lives of many individuals and institutions that have gotten it right. Inspiring and instructive stories of individuals, cultures and institutions that have found their elements even when very unusual and even up against unfavorable odds.

Robinson writes in a way that is easy to read. His stories are captivating. His impact on your life and how you guide others in your work place and your families will be profound.

According to Ken Robinson, what he characterizes as "The Element" is not a physical location but the challenge is to locate it, nonetheless. "It's about doing something that feels so completely natural to you, that resonates so strongly with you, that you feel as if this is who you really are." Some people locate it in childhood, others decades later, and still others never. "Finding your Element is a quest to find yourself...it is a two-way journey: an inward journey to explore what lies within you and an outward journey to explore opportunities in the world around you." Robinson wrote The Element (2009) with Lou Aronica who also assisted with the writing of Finding Your Element four years later. Ever since the first book was published, Robinson explains, "people have asked me how they can find their own Element, or help other people to find theirs."

In response, this sequel has five main thematic threads that weave throughout the book, each of which is intended to help the reader reflect and focus on finding their own Element and, if they wish to, help others to do so. Robinson provides ideas and principles as well as stories and examples, stories, and other resources such as 15 exercises to complete (more about them in a moment) and clusters of questions to consider at the end of each chapter before moving on to the next. In fact, each chapter title is a question. "Although there are ten chapters in the book, Finding Your Element is not a ten-step program." Just as Oscar Wilde once suggested, "Be yourself. Everyone else is taken," Robinson suggests that only the reader can answer the questions posed. "In the end, only you will know if you've found your Element or if you are still looking for it. Whichever it proves to be, you should never doubt this is a quest worth taking." True to form, Robinson asks most of the right questions but it remains for each reader to answer them, perhaps using some of the tools that Robinson provides. I have found mind mapping to be an especially helpful technique during both an inward journey of personal discovery and an outward journey of the world in which I live. As with answering questions, however, each reader must select which tools to use as well as when and how.

These are among the dozens of passages that caught my eye, also listed to indicate the scope of Robinson's coverage.

o A Personal Quest (Pages xxii-xxiv)
o Three Elemental Principles (19-27)
o True North (27-30)
o Hidden Depths (39-44)
o Finding Your Aptitudes (44-48)
o What's Your Style? (65-71)
o Two Sorts of Energy (84-87)
o The Unhappy Truth (113-115)
o Having a Purpose What Is Happiness? (117-120)
o The Meaning of Happiness (120-126)
o Seeing Through the Barriers (143-146)
o Who Are You? (147-148)
o A Question of 160-165)
o Figuring Out Where You Are (173-174)
o The Culture of Tribes (191-192)
o Moving Forward by Going Back (215-222)

As I began to re-read this book prior to composing this brief commentary, I realized that amidst all the information, insights, and counsel that Robinson provides in abundances, there were certain key points that I had missed. I strongly recommend re-reading this book, highlighting especially relevant material along the way and then reviewing that material from time to time. I also suggest keeping a notebook near at hand in which to record personal thoughts, feelings, experiences, concerns, and other professional as well as personal issues.

As quoted earlier, Robinson views "finding your Element is a quest to find yourself...it is a two-way journey: an inward journey to explore what lies within you and an outward journey to explore opportunities in the world around you." This is a never-ending process because each of us and our circumstances change and adjustments must be made to accommodate them.

This is what Ken Robinson has in mind, when concluding: "Like the rest of nature, human talents and passions are tremendously diverse and they take many forms. As individuals, we're all motivated by different dreams and we thrive -- and we wilt too -- in very different circumstances. Recognizing your own dreams and the conditions you need to fulfill them are essential to becoming who you can be. Finding your own Element won't guarantee that you'll spend the rest of your life in a constant, unbroken state of pleasure and delight. It will give you a deeper sense of who you really are and of the life you could and maybe should live."

there is nothing new here, many stories about people did follow their dreams.
I did not do the exercises, since obviously these question do raise to anyone want to follow his dream.
I expected the book to be deeper and richer, however it was a good book to read.

Are you living the life you should be living?

Based on the three elemental principles of (1) Your life is unique; (2) You create your own life; and (3) Life is organic, _Finding Your Element_ presents a great guide for creating a personally meaningful life. Whether you’re stuck where you’re at—or have a sense that you deserve a richer life—this book offers insight and inspiration:
“Finding your Element is a personal quest...The quest for your Element is really a two-way journey. It is an inward journey to explore what lies within you; it is an outward journey to explore opportunities in the world around you. The aim of the book is to help you find your way. Whether you fulfill your potential depends on your commitment and fortitude and on how highly you value the possible prize. If you are prepared to do what it takes, I trust you’ll find a lot here to help and inspire you.” (pp. xxii-xxiii)

The book is full of thought-provoking information, suggestions, and case histories, but what might be most valuable are the self-exploration questions the author proposes at the end of each chapter. Here’s a sampling:

*What are you good at?
--What sorts of activities come especially easily to you?
--What do you feel your natural talents are?
--How did you first become aware of them? (pp. 54-55)

*How do you know?
--Has anyone ever suggested that you might be good at something that you hadn’t considered?
--Have you ever avoided doing something because you thought you wouldn’t be good at it?
--Is there anything you feel you might be good at if you had the chance to work at it properly? (p. 77)

*What do you love?
--What sorts of activities lift your spirits and feed your energy?
--What activities make time disappear for you?
--When do you feel that you are being most true to your own spirit? (pp. 109-110)

*What makes you happy?
--When do you feel at your happiest?
--Do you feel that what you spend most of your time doing has a real purpose, for you or for others?
--What would you think of as success in your life? (p. 139)

*What’s your attitude?
--What can you do to raise your belief in yourself?
--How is your temperament affecting your pursuits?
--What can you do to change the attitudes of those around you? (pp. 166)

*Where are you now?
--How easily can you take a risk?
--What are the biggest hurdles?
--What would it take to get over them? (p. 186)

*Where’s your tribe?
--What sorts of people do you associate with your Element?
--Do they interest and attract you or not? Do you know why?
--If you do, what do you feel about the professional culture that goes with it? (p. 212)

*What’s next?
--What experiences would you like to have that you haven’t had yet?
--If you couldn’t fail, what would you most like to achieve?
--What’s stopping you? (p. 236)

After providing a road map to finding your Element, the author concludes with:
“Like the rest of nature, human talents and passions are tremendously diverse and they take many forms. As individuals, we’re all motivated by different dreams and we thrive—and we wilt too—in very different circumstances. Recognizing your own dreams and the conditions you need to fulfill them are essential to becoming who you can be. Finding your own Element won’t guarantee that you’ll spend the rest of your life in a constant unbroken state of pleasure and delight. It will give you a deeper sense of who you really are and of the life you could and maybe should live.” (pp. 242-243)

Here’s to living like you’re meant to be living.

For my independent reading project, I chose to read Finding Your Element by Ken Robinson with Lou Aronica. This book was published in 2013 by Penguin Books and is 243 pages long. Finding Your Element was written after is predecessor, The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything. Ken Robinson describes your element as “Being in your Element is where your natural aptitudes meet your passions” (pg. 33). This book is an introspective journey to discover your passions, talents, and goals in life through exercises and personal stories of others. There are three main principles in this book. Your life is unique: Everyone is different with a variety of talents and interests. You create your own life: Even though people are given natural talents and circumstances at birth, people can be creative and be what they desire. Life is organic: We continuously change due to evolving interests and circumstances. Robinson references his point that a lot of people’s elements change throughout their life. Robinson divides the book into ten chapters as steps to support the reader to look inside through critical thinking to discover their element.
The ten chapters in the book build on each other to help the reader find their element. The ten chapters are: finding your element, what are you good at, how do you know, what do you love, what makes you happy, what’s your attitude, where are you now, where’s your tribe, what’s next, and living a life of passion and purpose. In each chapter, Robinson does an excellent job of explaining his point through a mixture of research, history, personal stories that are relatable, and exercises to help the reader discover each of the titles questions. For example in chapter five, ‘What Makes You Happy?’, he divides this chapter into great detail by what happiness really is, what it takes to achieve it, and how finding your element is crucial in your happiness. He references scientists with Gallup Organization’s conclude that well-being embraces five broad areas of life: Career, social, financial, physical, and community (pg. 124-125). Robinson then has the reader perform the exercise “Circles of Well-Being”. This exercise has the reader draw five circles that represent each of these well beings around their name. In each circle, the reader is to write a few paragraphs of automatic writing of their current experience or feelings in each of the areas. This exercise helps the reader establish what area of well being do they need to improve on to help them find happiness.
In each chapter, Robinson does a fantastic job with exercises to help the reader answer the questions of the title’s chapter. I would recommend that a booklet of graphic organizers comes with the book to complete these exercises in. At the end of the chapter, Robinson does an excellent job of asking introspective questions that involve deep internal thinking. By the end of the book all of these answers should help the reader know their element, have a sense of it, or how to continue to search for it. Another strength of this book is that Robinson does a great job integrating personal experiences of how people found their element in each chapter. Each story is unique and different that there is at least one story that the reader can relate to. While Robinson tried to summarize it in the first chapter, I believe this book would be more beneficial if one reads The Element first.
Even though the book just briefly references the education system, I believe the lessons of this book are important and can help educators. One reason is that I know many educators become unsure if teaching is for them or their passions begin to dwindle throughout their years of teaching. This book will help rejuvenate teachers in their certainty if teaching is still their passion or encourage them to find it. Another reason I would recommend this book is that educators can take these ideas and steps to help students find their elements. Robinson references the cuts in the art programs hurts students overall. These types of classes help students find their passions and interests. While educators do not have control over budgets, they can incorporate art, music, etc. into their lessons to help students excel in their subject through their interests and help them discover their passions. If an educator sees that their student has found their element, encourage them to continue to pursue it. “I made art college my goal, thanks largely to the encouragement of my art teacher, who recognized that I had some ability and a lot of enthusiasm and who showed me that I could actually turn this into a career” (Keith Robinson, pg. 212). Robinson also discusses that college is not for everyone or that students should pursue their passions taking a year off before going to college. “Some people prefer to get into the world of work right away after high school. Second, many people get much more from college if they do something else before they go” (p. 183). Our education system is pushing college readiness programs and cutting vocational programs. Is this what is best for our students? If comfortable, educators or guidance counselors could provide advice for students to take a year off to discover what their passions are if students are unsure what they want to do when graduating high school.
Another point made throughout the book is that children begin school in the primary grades being told they can be anything they want to be. Somewhere along their educational journey that mindset changes. Robinson references in many of the personal examples that people are discouraged to pursue their element due to a teacher or another person that is influential in a child’s life. This may be due to not fitting into the mold that the education system. Another key lesson that Robinson refers to is that labeling students and telling students what their strengths or weaknesses can have a dramatic effect on their future. While students may feel discouraged from prior grades, educators need to encourage students to have a growth mindset. Robinson quotes Carol Deweck, “People may start with different temperaments and different attitudes, but it’s clear that experiences, training, and personal effort take them the rest of the way” (p. 152). Educators are very influential to students and can have an affect on them. The interactions with students and classroom environment needs to be encouraging, supportive, and teach them the growth mindset that they can be whatever they want to be and can succeed with extraordinary personal effort and a positive attitude. Through classroom activities, positive mindset, and encouragement educators can help students find their element. If you are interested in reading this book, you can purchase it on the store for $13.40 plus shipping costs.

I need the convenience of instant. I've not found another instant that's organic. And this, from Dr. Mercola (MD), is why I won't consider coffee from beans grown conventionally:

"Most people are not aware that regular coffee consumption can be a significant source of pesticides. According to the CS Monitor, conventional farmers apply up to 250 pounds of chemical fertilizers per acre!

"Pesticides contribute to a wide range of health problems, including prostate and other types of cancers, Parkinson’s disease, and miscarriages in pregnant women.

"So when you sip on your non-organic morning brew, you are also sipping on pesticide residues. Further, the U.S. has limited input and control over the type and quantity of pesticides used in the countries from which we import."

British author shares ideas and exercises in an effort to help folks find out who they are. Includes such ideas as meditating, writing, mind mapping (making a diagram of thoughts), and other things along the way. Shares personal experiences from his life and lives of others. Insightful and occasionally cheeky.

a lot of anecdotal reports of cases in which someone took a risk, changed their lives then reported they liked it. Does give some insight into Listen to your little voice when things feel bad, but doesn't at all tell that there will be good and bad in every "element" goal is more good than bad.

I admit, when I first encountered Finding Your Element by Sir Ken Robinson, I assumed it was some touchy-feely, aura-seeking manifesto: “Discover what heavy metal corresponds to your zodiac sign” or some drivel like that. It is not. Not at all. Rather, it is an actionable text to help you lead a happier life, starting with Chapter 1.

I liked it so much that I wrote a full blog post about it here:

[...]

Did you attend a traditional school ? Was your creativity doused by math, english and following the program ? Do you even know what your passion is, or where your talents lie ? I really didn't have any idea when I picked this book up. I can do a little of everything and don't really know where my true talents really are. Jack of all trades master at none, that is what I was taught a little of everything. Was it the public school systems fault that I lack focus ? Who knows, but he gives a very interesting argument.
In this book he helps you focus on "the element' where the things you are good and what you love to do come into clear view. There are some steps to follow to help you form your talents into focus. I wish there had been more of these. He gets you started in the direction you need to go it's up to you to keep the momentum.
Most of the book deals with the educational system. The standardized test systems, the lack of arts programs, and one size fits all thinking of education. I would love to see every teacher, parent any one in education read this and expand their views. I learned that my talents, my element is one of the areas I put off the most. I'll be working on that in the future.

In a climate where "who you are" is increasingly more important than "what you are", the path to "Finding Your Element" becomes more and more valued. Ken Robinson interweaves his message within the stories he shares as seamlessly as Vin Scully share the game amongst the stories of baseball. This provides the plan to scratch the itch created by "The Element".

I borrowed this book from my local library and am glad that I did not purchase it. There's nothing new here: write or mindmap your interests, skills/aptitudes, passions. Find the intersection of these. Associate with your tribe-those people with similar interests. Take action. This has been written over and over in similar books.
The challenge is that this process is messy, long and not necessarily successful. It's trial and error. Hopefully you'll stumble on your element. But this book did nothing to facilitate this.
Other issues:
Most of the examples involve people finding their passion in the arts. What about all the other professions-medical, scientific, engineering, teaching, service, etc? Lots of passionate people work in these fields and contribute much to society.
The chapter on testing is thin but that is just as well. After all, who do you know who's found their passion through testing?